Bhubaneswar: The state units of All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) Tuesday slammed the Odisha government’s move to extend labourers’ working hours, terming it an anti-worker policy favouring corporates.
In its statement, the AICCTU said the state cabinet September 29 approved raising the standard workday from eight to ten hours and increasing the quarterly overtime cap from 50 to 144 hours, a move officials linked to the government’s “Ease of Doing Business” push. AICCTU leaders condemned the cabinet decision as an assault on workers’ rights, alleging it was part of a larger plan to legitimise exploitation.
They pointed out that similar provisions were introduced through the BJP government’s four Labour Codes during the Covid-19 crisis without parliamentary debate, and since nationwide resistance has delayed their full implementation, these measures are now being pushed in BJP-ruled states like Odisha. Odisha AICCTU president Radhakanta Sethy and state secretary Mahendra Parida demanded the decision be rolled back immediately.
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AIUTUC’s state committee also opposed the cabinet’s amendments to the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1956, and the Factories Act, 1948, permitting 10-hour workdays, 144 hours of quarterly overtime, and night shifts for women. Calling the decision inhuman and undemocratic, leaders said it would overburden workers and compromise women’s safety amid rising crimes. State president Shambhu Nath Nayak and secretary Jayasen Meher urged workers to unite and resist the move, warning the Mohan Majhi-led government of intensified protests if the decision is not withdrawn.
